Knot or slub catcher



' PatenteriJan, 6, 1948 xNo'r on SLUB cn'rcnaa Conard J. Arrington, Winnsboro, S. 0., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application January 18, 1945, Serial No. 573,378

1 Claim. (01. 28-64) This invention relates to a knot or slub catche for large strong yarns, threads, or cords which will break only when subjected to a strong pull. Textile winding machines now in general use are commonly provided with knot or slub catchers adapted to detect large slubs or over-sized knots. In these knot or slub catchers as usually constructed the yarn passes through a slot, frequently adjustable, and wide enough'for the yarn to pass but narrow enough to prevent a large slub or, over-size knot from passing, the construction being such that in the event a slub or knot failsto pass through the slot the yarn will break.

It is found in practice that when a knot or slub catcher, of the type just described, is employed on a winding. machine handling an exceptionally'strong heavy yarn, the force required to break the yarn when a knot or slub fails to pass through the slub catcher is so severe that it. may stop the rotation of the yarn takeup spindle, or the jaws of the knot catcher may be sprung, or the take-up spindle may be forced out of line by the heavy'jerk exertedby the yarn.

Having in mind this difficulty experienced with strong yarns the present invention relates to -a knot or slub catcher having associated therewith at some distance from the'normal path of travel of the yarn through the slub catcher a fixed cutter. The arrangement is such that when an oversized slub or knot fails to pass through the slot of the slub catcher it will slide along such slot towards the cutter to sever the yarn without subjecting the slub catcher or take-up spindle to a resides in the construction whereby the slotted portion of the slub.catcher is disposed at an inclination to the path of yarn travel so that when a yarn knot fails to pass through the slot it will slide along the slot to the yarn cutting position.

Another feature of the present invention resides in the construction whereby a yarn guide is provided adjacent the slot of the slub catcher so that the running yarn will rest thereagainst during the normal operation, but when a knot or slub fails to pass through the slot the yarn will change its course of travel and'move against the cutter.

Another feature of the invention resides in the construction whereby the cutter may be easily replaced when it becomes dull or broken, by springing it slightly and then sliding it out of its operating position and inserting a new blade which can be easily and quickly snapped into place.

The above and other features of the present invention will be more fully understood when read in connection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates one good practical embodiment of the invention.

.In the. drawing:

Fig. 1* is a side elevation of a well known type of yarn tensioning means having the knot or slub catcher of the present invention secured at one end thereof. 1

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the knot or slub catcher shown in Fig. 1; and r Fig. 3 is a side view of the opposite side of the slub catcher to that shown in Fig. l.

'The present knot or slub catcher may be used in connection with strong yarn, thread or cord, and the word yarn as hereinafter used is to be construed broadly as covering any one of these strong coarse strands. The yarn tensioning device shown in Fig. 1 01' the drawing is of well known construction and forms no part of the present invention but has been illustrated as showing one good practical form of support for the present slub, catcher, and also as showing a convenient location for the slub catcher with respect to the travel of the yarn tile winder has a supporting post 10 attached to a portion I I of the winding machine frame to hold the tension device so that the yarn will pass approximately vertically therethrough. The

outer end of thls'post i0 is provided with the oppositely extending arms I! having the laterally extending ends it. Between these ends I; is secured a rigid ribbed jaw I I, and a cooperating rocking ribbed jaw l5 which is pivoted at ii to the ends l3. The pivoted jaw i5 is held in frictional clamping engagement with the yarn Y by the weight H which is pivotally secured at l8 to the post l0 'and has the arm l9 that rests against the jaw [5. A guide 20 disposed at the upper end of the tensioning device serves to prevent the yarn Y from being whipped out from between the ribbed jaws l4 and I5. This yarn tensioning mechanism provides, a satisfactory means for supporting the knot or slub catcher of the present invention which will now be described.

The present slub catcher may be variously constructed and as illustrated in the drawing has a flat supporting frame 2! which is rigidly fastened by screws 22 to the end I: of the lower arm- I! to extend downwardly therefrom. To one-face 3 of this supporting frame 2! are rigidly secured the slot forming members 23 and 2 3 which are slightly spaced to form the yarn receiving slot 25. These members 23 and 24 it will be noted extend downwardly for a short distance and are then bent laterally at a substantial angle. The slot forming members 23 and 24 have associated therewith the yarn guide 26 which is disposed in spaced relation to these members and extends transversely of the laterally inclined portion of the slot 25 as shown. This guide is supported in the construction shown by an arm 27 which is rigidly secured by a screw 23, to a face of the member 23.

It may be desirable to make the. slot 25 adjustable in width to accommodate different size yarns. This is accomplished in theconstruction shown by providing the member 23'with the lateral extension 29, and by forming elongated bolt holes 30 through the central portion of the member 23 and through the extension 29, whereby this slot forming member 23 may be adjustably secured to the frame 2! by the screws 29 and 3!. The other slot forming member 24 is non-adjustably secured to the frame 21 by the bolt 3i and a pin 32.

Near the inner end of the slot cutter 33 which may be formed of the ordinary flexible razor blade, preferably .of the single cutting edge type. This blade is adapted to be inser'ted in a narrow space formed between the supporting frame 2i and slot forming members 23 and 24, the space being formed by providing very thin washers such as 34 between the frame 21 and members 23 and 24. This space preferably is increased in width near the upper end of the member 23 as shown in Fig. 3 by bending the member 23 slightly to one side so that the laterally extending portion 29 will rest against one face of the member 24 and is held there-against by the screw 3!. The razor blade 33 is firmly secured in its active position by causing the notches at its opposite ends to engage with the pin 32 and a pin 35 carried by the frame 21. The blade 33 may easily be sprung laterally in the space Just mentioned to disengage one end from the pin 35 whereupon it may be removed from the slub catcher.

.The yarn Y is preferably so supplied to the parts shown in Fig. lof the drawing that it will pass upwardly from a supply package 36 through a hole 31 in a guide bar 38 to the transversely extending guide 26 of the slub catcher. It then passes through the slot 25 adjacent this guide 26 and then upwardly between the jaws l4 and of the tension device. As long as the running yarn is free from slubs or knots, which will not pass through the slot 25, the yarn will follow the path shown in full lines in Fig. 1. When however a knot such as indicated by K reaches the slot 25 and is unable to pass therethrough it will slide in an inclined direction along this incline slot towards the cutter 33 under the forward pull being exerted upon the yarn by the take-up 25 is provided a the cutter 33, but when a knot strikes the slot 25 it will slide along the inclined portion of the members 23 and 24, into engagement with the cutter and cause the yarn to be severed. That is during the normal running of the yarn the present knot or slub catcher operates much the same as those commonly employed heretofore, but when a knot or slub fails to pass through the slot 25 the yarn is not broken by a jerk as heretofore but is severed by the cutter 33. In this manner the slub catcher and take-up spindle are relieved from a severe jerk when the slub catcher detects a knot or slub.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

In a knot catcher, a cutter, a pair of elongated members supported in slightly spaced relation to each other so that a running yarn can pass through the slot formed therebetween but a large knot upon the yarn will not pass through the slot, said members having a straight portion which suports the cutter across the slot and a bent portion that forms an obtuse angle with said straight portion, means for supporting said members so that the bent portion forms an acute angle with the path of the running yarn and the cutter-supporting straight portion lies approxi mately parallel with but in spaced relation to said path, and a, yarn guide adjacent said bent portion and adapted to hold the knot-free running yarn away from said cutter but to allow a knot to travel along the bent and straight portions of the slot forming members toward the cutter to sever the yarn without jerking the knot catcher. CONARD .J. ARRINGTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of -this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 477,031 Weaver June 14, 1892 945,447 Cook Jan. 4, 1910 989,165 Lentsch Apr. 11, 1911 1,498,503 Bellwood s June 17, 1924 2,312,143 Atkins Feb. 23, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 17,435 Great Britain 1892 195,927 Switzerland May 16, 1938 381,638 Great Britain Oct. 13, 1932 448,277 Great Britain June 5, 1936 

